SHANGHAI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Tmall’s status as the leading trend-defining community was further cemented today, having gathered 80 top Chinese and international fashion and lifestyle brands in Shanghai to pull off an interactive, large-scale fashion show. The close to 200 top models and celebrities hitting the catwalk drew attention from around the world as part of the Alibaba Group 2016 11.11 Global Shopping Festival.

The ability to attract a wide range of high-end global brands, the caliber and number of participants and the organizational management put into a marathon eight-hour show has made the Tmall Global Fashion Show a major event in the fashion world. This was the first time that such a show had been staged with a global audience, across multichannels and embracing the ability to “See Now Buy Now.”

“The Tmall Global Fashion Show is a key event that kicks off our 11.11 Global Shopping Festival and one that underscores Tmall’s tremendous growth in the past few years. For big-name fashion brands across the globe, Tmall has become not only a distribution channel, but also a branding powerhouse as well as a global gathering place for lifestyle and fashion trends. We expect the event today to become a lifestyle trendsetter for Chinese consumers and virtually a ‘fashion week at their fingertips,’” said Chris Tung, Chief Marketing Officer of Alibaba Group.

Launched in 2008, Tmall (www.tmall.com) is now China’s biggest online B2C platform for apparel and accessories, capturing close to 80% of the market share, according to the newly released 2016 Global Trend and Lifestyle Spending Report by CBNData. With access to more than 400 million consumers across the Alibaba platforms and housing more than 50,000 apparel brands, Tmall is set to grow alongside China’s online apparel and accessories industry, which is expected to exceed RMB1 trillion in sales in 2017.

At the Shanghai Oriental Sports Center, globally-renowned style guru Nick Wooster, the image consultant of this year’s show, led a dazzling line-up of top models including Sui He and Maye Musk, celebrated photographer Tommy Ton and top performers such as Chris Lee to appear in front of the live and online audience.

The hottest labels in the fashion world debuted products to mark the event. Top brands from Burberry to Trussardi, Paul Smith to La Perla showed their latest offerings for the season on the runway while global brands such as Maserati, Guerlain, Rimowa, Vidal Sassoon and New Balance introduced their newest creations using the Tmall platform. As a highlight of the day, Burberry released a mist of its Mr. Burberry cologne to promote the scent's debut on Tmall.

Streaming live on Mobile Taobao, Tmall.com and Youku, the show combined entertainment with a demonstration of Alibaba’s latest technological capability, to help brands engage with consumers in a fun, entertaining and intimate fashion. Both the live and online audiences were offered the opportunity to pre-order the items that were in the show, by viewing the products on the Tmall and Taobao apps and tapping the “buy now” button. Orders placed during the eight-hour show and successfully executed on November 11 during the 11.11 Global Shopping Festival were in line to enjoy steep discounts.

In addition, ELLE, Tmall and trend authority WGSN released their collaborative study findings on six lifestyle trends at a press conference prior to the show. Topics including “curated life,” “fun is everything,” “genderless fashion,” “athleisure,” “power dressing” and “the Eastern Character” triggered some intriguing conversations amongst the brand executives invited to the related roundtable discussion on stage, providing insight to help the audience stay stylish in every facet of their lives in the coming year.

The Tmall Global Fashion Show is just one of the exciting elements in Alibaba Group’s annual 11.11 Global Shopping Festival that culminates in a 24-hour online sale on November 11. Popularly known as the Singles Day, the 11.11 Global Shopping Festival has grown in seven years to become a global online shopping phenomenon. Bigger than the U.S.’ “Black Friday” and “Cyber Monday” combined, the festival attracted over 40,000 merchants and 5,000 global brands from 25 countries last year.

For more highlights about the Tmall Global Fashion Show and interviews with Gap and Guerlain, please visit: http://www.alizila.com/see-now-buy-now-focus-for-tmall-fashion-show/.

About Alibaba Group

Alibaba Group’s mission is to make it easy to do business anywhere. The company aims to build the future infrastructure of commerce. It envisions that its customers will meet, work and live at Alibaba, and that it will be a company that lasts at least 102 years.

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